Small and medium entrepreneurs have been urged to ensure all products they import have necessary information to enable them to trace where they are imported from in case of any complaint.

This was said in Dar es Salaam yesterday by Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) Quality Control Director Kezia Mbwambo during a seminar on standards and quality convened for entrepreneurs.

She said the information printed on the products played a crucial role in identifying goods, which did not meet standards or had poor quality and thus protected the nation from being a dumping ground.

“You have to get all important information such as a quality management system, ask for a purchase receipt or a letter, which will enable you to believe that the products being sold met required standards,” she noted.

However, Mbwambo explained that the government had started taking measures to reduce the importation of substandard products in the country.

She said a measure known as pre-export verification of conformity to standards (PVOC), which came into effect in February, this year, intended to ensure that only quality products were imported.

Conformity assessment includes physical inspection before shipment, sampling, testing and analysis in accredited laboratories and audit of product processes and systems.

For their part, the entrepreneurs urged the TBS to educate more people about the importance of having quality products.

“Before coming here we were not aware of the standards and quality. We urge the TBS to educate people in other parts of the country. This will help them fight against substandard products,” said Saidi Hamad.

He noted that if people were well informed, they would avoid buying substandard goods and reduce the importation of substandard goods.